Vancouver Sun newsroom in April 22 1976. Al Sheehan, a reporter whose deft writing hand and sharp news skills allowed him to turn around late-breaking stories, and who shared his secrets with legions of young reporters at The Vancouver Sun, died Saturday of heart failure at the age of 82. Sheehan, who started working at the Sun in 1957, retired in 1995, just eight years after The Sun began archiving its stories electronically.Ralph Bower
/ Vancouver Sun Files

Al Sheehan, a reporter whose deft writing hand and sharp news skills allowed him to turn around late-breaking stories, and who shared his secrets with legions of young reporters at The Vancouver Sun, died Saturday of heart failure at the age of 82.

A reporter for all his career, Sheehan devoted 38 years to The Sun, covering everything from Vancouver city hall to entertainment to late-breaking news. It was this latter skill, and his willingness to work the late evening shift when The Sun was an afternoon paper, that gave the newspaper some of its best breaking news.

But Sheehan also had a gift for working with young reporters who often found themselves in need of a good rewrite man with no ego.

Sheehan, who started working at The Sun in 1957, retired in 1995, just eight years after The Sun began archiving its stories electronically. But a look back at the stories he wrote between 1987 and 1995 shows just how willing Sheehan was to work with others; of nearly 400 bylined stories — not including the short-burst stories he was known for churning out on deadline — many of them involved at least one other reporter, most of them young people in need of his assistance.

Brad Ziemer, now a sports reporter, worked the 7 p.m. — 3 a.m. shift with Sheehan. As the night city editor, Ziemer often turned to him for assistance.

“I leaned upon him pretty heavily because he was the veteran reporter. Often I would have stories thrown at me by (night managing editor) Ian Haysom and Al was always the guy I would ship these stories to because he would make sense of them.”

But Sheehan also had a soft spot for helping others.

“Al was one of the nicest guys you could meet. He was a really gentle soul. The Sun newsroom could be a tough place to walk into. But it was nice to have a guy like Al welcome me, and he always helped out.”

“Working nights at The Vancouver Sun was always a bit of a challenge but it was made a bit easier by having Al around,” said Gerry Bellett, 69, the newspaper’s senior reporter. Sheehan began his career at the Simcoe Reformer in Ontario shortly after graduating from Ryerson Polytechnic in the 1950s. He met his wife Idena while he worked the Pembroke Observer. A few years later they moved to Kelowna, where he worked for the Kelowna Courier filing on news from nearby Vernon. After he joined The Sun they moved to North Vancouver, where they resided for the rest of his life.

Shane Sheehan said Monday his father had many highs in a career devoted to journalism. But perhaps one of the most memorable events was interviewing comedian and actor Bob Hope in 1978 at the Vancouver International Airport. The interview earned Sheehan a signed photograph of the two, which the family turned into a poster that still hangs in his house.

“Dad did many things. He covered city hall when Tom Campbell was mayor and he worked a lot of nights. He really loved his career and he loved doing things his way,” Sheehan said.

After Al Sheehan retired he continued to keep in touch with some of his contemporaries. Photographer Ralph Bower would pick him up and they would go out for what Bower called “The Old Farts Lunch” with Bruce Smillie, Archie Rollo and other retired newsmen.

Idena and Al were married for 61 years and they have five children — Michael, Robert, Shane, Kelly and Shauna. They also have 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

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